Thank you for celebrating 110 years with us!

Bank employees served a pork burger dinner during the anniversary

By Jason Winter
Citizens State Bank President

Our 110th anniversary celebration and annual Dairy Day was delayed a few hours by rain, but the weather cleared out just in time for our customer appreciation dinner. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to help celebrate our milestone last month. It was wonderful to see so many of you.

I am thankful to work at such a great bank surrounded by talented employees in a wonderful community. I realize Citizens has been an integral part of the area long before I came to work here, and the anniversary reminds me of my responsibility to help carry on that legacy.

With the anniversary in mind, here is a little historical context of the bank.

Since its founding by Peter Effertz on June 20, 1914, the bank has only changed ownership four times. Other owners of the bank have been: Albert Kehrer 1930-1952; Donald Kehrer 1952-1979; Clinton Kurtz and Leonard Lano 1979-1999; G. Michael and/or Paul Pieschel 1999-present.

Incredibly, I became only the seventh president in 110 years. The other six are: Peter Effertz, H.G. Lenzen, A.J. Kehrer, D.J. Kehrer, Clinton Kurtz and Perry Forst.

After doing a little research, it appears current employee Lynne Lundquist is likely the longest tenured full-time employee in the bank’s history as she marked 50 years last month. While hitting the 50-year milestone is truly remarkable, Citizens has traditionally had many long-term employees. For the longest time, I was the new kid and I have worked at the bank 16 years! These long-term employees only add to our stability, and they are a testament to the general culture of the bank.

The stability of our ownership, leadership, and staff, combined with our employees’ sincere interest in creating person-to-person connections with our customers, are the driving forces behind the bank’s longevity and success.

The bank was originally located at 214 Elm Street in Norwood and underwent a large remodel and expansion in 1963. In 1984, the bank built at its current location, and in 2008 completed a major expansion to the building you see today.

While it is important to reflect on the past, customers can also rest assured we continue to plan for the future. We are nimble in that we are able to make decisions locally to add products or services that we feel will positively impact our customers. We are safe in that any new product or service we offer is reviewed via a thorough vetting process to ensure your financial data will remain secure.

In the past, the bank lobby was bustling on paydays and people would stop by to get cash for the weekend. These days, most paychecks are directly deposited into accounts and debit cards and ATMs have replaced much of the need for the Friday trip to the bank to grab weekend cash. However, we know it is still important to have staff on hand when you need banking services. Online options can be convenient, but we understand you sometimes need personal banking help or advice. While some banks are investing heavily in artificial intelligence for this, we still prefer to rely on actual human intelligence. When you call us during business hours, you can expect a person to pick up the phone and help direct you to the appropriate banker to help with your needs. Like our motto says: Person to person. Neighbor to neighbor. Yesterday, today and tomorrow.